BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA--The Archdiocesan School Implementation Committee has issued a plan for Catholic elementary schools under which parents pay the full cost of education for their children. The plan will be phased in over the next five years in combination with a new parish assessment which will replace school subsidies and a tuition assistance endowment fund to offset the rise in the tuition rate.

These recommendations will be put into effect beginning with the 1998 school year and include the following:

Endowment--The tuition assistance endowment fund from the "Building the Church of Tomorrow" campaign will be utilized to ensure that the financial obligations of the archdiocese related to new school construction are met and tuition assistance will be available to those families which require it. The initial principal provided by the "Building the Church of Tomorrow" campaign should grow at a rate in excess of the rate of inflation to help provide for future generations of Catholic families. The archdiocese will continue to financially support Catholic schools. Currently the archdiocese provides $325,000 for tuition assistance to St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, and approximately $150,000 in aid to elementary schools exclusive of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Anthony's, Atlanta. This money will go into the endowment fund where it will be disbursed with other monies.

School Subsidies/Parish Support--Effective July 1, 1998, the old subsidy system, which was based on the number of students enrolled in Catholic schools from each parish, will end and be replaced by a new system where each parish contributes a specific percentage of its revenue over $250,000. This figure will be discussed by the Priests Council. The procedure will be phased in over five years at those parishes where the result is a significant change in the amount of money contributed. All of these funds will go directly into the tuition assistance endowment fund.

School Tuition--Each child's tuition will cover the full cost per child of education, including reserves for capital replacement, within a five-year period. As school subsidies are phased out, tuition rates will increase. Since at most schools the rate for one child does not currently cover the full cost of education this will eliminate the multi-child discount in effect at most schools. "Multi-child discounts are really a moot point," said Msgr. Peter Dora, vicar general of the archdiocese and a member of the committee. "A family will be subsidized according to their need, not according to the number of children they have."

Non-Catholics will continue to pay a premium over the rate charged to Catholic families. Fund-raising and other income can be used by a school to partially cover the cost of education. Tuition rates will continue to be established by each school and each school will be responsible for collecting its own tuition.

Tuition Assistance For Students In Elementary Schools--As tuition rates increase, the endowment fund will be used to provide tuition assistance to qualifying Catholic families. Each family will be expected to pay a minimum amount for their education, but no family will be expected to pay more than nine percent of their household income in tuition for elementary education. Tuition assistance will be administered by a committee under the guidance of the archdiocesan Education Department with representation from each elementary school. The committee will be formulated in early 1998 and process applications for the 1998-99 school year. This committee will also be charged with developing a procedure for dealing with financial emergencies during the school year. Tuition assistance payments will be made directly from the endowment fund to each school based on the amount of aid approved.

Tuition Assistance For High Schools--St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, will continue to administer its own tuition assistance program which will be largely underwritten by the endowment fund. While consideration will be given in both the elementary and high school tuition aid process to the total number of children enrolled in Catholic school, the total paid by each family for Catholic education with high school students may exceed the nine percent of household income cap for elementary school education.

Local Control--The elementary schools and high schools will maintain local control (the principle of subsidiarity) of their school. Principals will be in charge of their budgets, hiring and firing of employees, curriculum and class size as long as they work within the parameters established by the archdiocese and their decisions are financially sound.

Tuition Surcharge--Based on current projections, there is no need for an additional surcharge on students to make the endowment fund financially viable. However, the archdiocese will review the performance of the endowment fund annually and may impose a surcharge at a later date if necessary.

Debt Repayment--Each new school will be required to pay one third of the initial cost of construction back to the endowment fund over 20 years and to include this cost in their tuition structure. Members of the committee estimate this cost will be approximately $350 per student each year.

These issues were resolved in order to allow Catholic school administrators, pastors and the archdiocese to budget for the 1998-99 school year based upon these recommendations.

"We needed to resolve enough for the principals and school boards to prepare next year's budget," said Msgr. Dora.

The committee, which was formed Nov. 12 and concluded its work Dec. 12, was composed of 10 people, representing Catholic school principals and parents, pastors and the archdiocese. They were given the task of implementing changes in the way Catholic schools are financed in the archdiocese.

"I want to express my deep gratitude to the members of this committee and former committees who have worked so diligently to ensure that we are able to preserve our existing Catholic schools and to build new schools," said Archbishop John F. Donoghue. "School funding has been an important issue in this archdiocese even before I was named archbishop. There have been numerous committees over the years that have played a role in the process of trying to solve the funding of Catholic schools and I am grateful for their effort and time commitment. We are finally at a point where we can act. The implementation committee's recommendations will make it possible for this archdiocese to bring about five new Catholic schools by 1999."

Archbishop Donoghue is expected to announce all five sites for the new Catholic schools in January.

The members of the implementation committee included pastors Father Greg Hartmayer, OFM Conv., of St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro, and Father Jim Miceli, of St. Mary's, Rome; St. Pius X High School principal Donald Sasso and Immaculate Heart of Mary School principal Margo Wolke; Patrick Gunning, a parent with children at St. Jude School, Sandy Springs, Mary Judson, a parishioner of Holy Spirit who is a parent of potential Catholic school students, and Bill Maron, a financial adviser who also has children at St. Thomas More School, Decatur. Msgr. Dora, Bertha Martin, Secretary for Education, and Mike McNamara, chief financial officer of the archdiocese, staffed the committee.